Advantages

"Does not attract robbers"

Cheap

Disadvantages

"Radio tunning"

Design

"Poor sound quality"

Very basic radio

I love travelling, especially by car. It gives me the freedom to stop at many interesting places. However after my experience in Eastern Europe (my car was robbed twice), I bought from my friend a very old Renault Laguna for my exciting travels. The car came however without a radio so that is why I decided to purchase this cheap Sony CDX L 480. Lets be honest, nothing is more boring than a hours long silent motorway drive and switching music on phone can become quite dangerous.

Need to say that this product is really basic but I simply needed something where I will not be upset when it gets stolen. It has a small LCD which shows names of the tracks or radio stations. It has a CD player which works fine. The sound is not excellent. I would say if you a big music fan, this is not the best choice for you. Switching between the radio channels is sometimes quite pain, I rather do it on the gas station than while driving. It was for me very hard sometimes to tune a clear radio station even in the UK.

In the end I would definitely not purchase this radio in my normal car since the sound is really not great. But it served me well while travelling to Lithaunia and Latvia. However I left the radio always comfortably in car and nobody stole it - it does not look expensive and therefore not lucrative.

Buy it if you are on tight budget, but I recommend to save for a better one if you plan to use it on daily basis.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Good basic car audio

Bought the Sony CDXL480 as a short term replacement stereo for my car, it was a good option but basic to the point where I wanted my new stereo long before it was ready to be installed.

The stereo looks tidy with back lighting and a clear display, the display shows information taken from the CD but this feature doesn't always have great reliability. Everything lights up as it should and how I would expect.

The stereo plays CDs and radio but there is no capability for you to plug in an mp3 player, radio stations can be programmed in and selected from the front of the console.

Connection was straightforward and all you need to do this is provided with the stereo, a credit card size remote control is supplied but it is useless. The stereo is basic enough to be safely operated whilst driving.

All formats of CD play including copies, no CD had ever not played while I've been using the stereo. Radio reception is usually good but can be patchy at times, local radio is often more clear than the bigger national radio stations.

Stereo has a face off for security and comes with a smart case to keep the face in.

£30 will but you this stereo now and it's a good deal, spend more on your speakers if you want banging sound and rely on this old Sony faithful for getting your music to the speakers. My new stereo cost serious money and you can tell but I wouldn't compare that to this Sony because for £30 this is a good buy.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Cheap replacement stereo with usual sony high quality

One of sony's first newer Xplod head units, this stereo was one of the first to show sonys bold new styling and was the most affordable way to get the new Xplod processors and dynamic soundstage options.

The Xplod engine is really just a rebranding of a bass heavy equaliser but appeals to the boy racer generations with its cool curved face and metallic finish.

The most obvious feature of the unit is the slot loading CD drive. The unit deals with shock and has a short CD memory to cope with short rough periods.

Information is displayed via a simple backlit LCD display, able to read CD information and Radio RDS. Radio stations can be stored on one of the available button for quick access and recception is always pretty good.

For security the face of the unit can detach when not in use, leaving a dull and uninviting unit that should deter potential thieves.

And now to the tech.. Dynamic sound stage, one of sony car audio's greatest inventions does a very good job of effectively moving the sound up the car. If you have door speakers it offers three stages which sound as if they are getting progressively higher. Its a very clever effect which is included in all current sony units.

This unit is really cheap to pick up now, and it should be. Its basic and all it does is CD and radio but its well made and will last well.